


I'm Not Anything Special

by rachelnoemirivas29



Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe, Spider-Man: Homecoming (2017)
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-07-13
Updated: 2017-07-22
Packaged: 2018-12-01 14:51:03
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply, Underage
Chapters: 5
Words: 18,661
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11488659
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/rachelnoemirivas29/pseuds/rachelnoemirivas29
Summary: There's always someone new trying to take down the Avengers. Now, it seems they've got their eyes set to get Tony through Anna, his daughter. With no other options viable enough to keep her safe and have her close, he decides to bring in a certain spider to give her a chance of a normal life under the watchful eye of the new superhero.Will Peter be able to keep her safe without risking either of their lives?Will Anna be able to finish her last year without any problems?Or will they complicate things by falling in love?





	1. I'm Just Average, but With Money.

**Author's Note:**

> This is my first time writing something for this and I'm super nervous tbh hope you guys like it!

My name is Anna Stark. Unsurprisingly, you'll probably already know who I am just because of my last name. I'm not surprised either.

I was six when Tony took me in, he had known my mother for sometime. When she got cancer, she had asked him to help me find a better life.. and I did. All we did was live paycheck to paycheck.

Sometimes people always wish to be rich and important, sometimes I wish that I could be that 6 year old girl that was just average, and had no expectations.

After he took me in, at the time, he was pretty famous for his weaponry making skills. I was just the kid hidden behind the bulletproof windows of a limosuine each trip we had to go on. Passed on from Rhodey, to Pepper and even Happy. Only his most trusted friends could watch me. As much as I wasn't actually his kid, he still treated me as his own. He cared for my mom like a kid sister; my mom had chosen to lead her own life instead of having it chosen for her. I never really heard from my rich grandparents whoever they were.

When he became Iron Man, I was 16. From 10 to now I've always been in the spotlight. Now I knew why my mom had left. Expectations.

They can be a terrible burden.

Everyone wanted me to be something. I didn't inherit any of his genes, obviously. I had nothing special about me. Even in the most elite schools I could get in but not because of me, because of my name.

Riiiiinnnnnggggggg

"Wake up, Miss Stark, it is 8 AM, you have a class in 45 minutes." Friday announced.

  
"Thanks, Friday." I groaned. I pulled the covers off of me and walked towards my en suite. I glance back at myself in the mirror. God, I looked tired. I quickly wash my face and teeth and head back to my room, walking towards my closet.

A simple sweater and jeans with sneakers seems good.

I dress myself and head downstairs. I was in the new Avengers facility god knows where that I can't say; precautions that Dad says I have to follow.

I hear the coffee machine go as I guess that it must be Natasha's starting breakfast.

"Good morning, Anna." Natasha watches me come downstairs and take a seat at the bar. 

"You hungry?" she asks, gesturing towards the fridge.

I shake my head in response, "No, I'm okay. I got a class in 20 minutes anyway. I'll just take an apple. Thanks." She nods in response and continues reading whatever files Dad must've sent her.

Newest mission probably.

I grab my backpack and make my way towards the door. I start to reach the handle before my hand is yanked away. I roll my eyes at the person I didn't really wanna see.

"What's up, Happy?" he glares at me for a second before closing the door.

"You know Tony is going to want me to drive you." He grabs the keys and opens the door again, leading me out.

"Because-" he starts before I interrupt.

"-PRECAUTIONS, I know Happy." he sighs as he opens the car door for me to Dad's newest car.

"You know I'm able to drive myself right? I have a license." I buckle my seatbelt as Happy starts the car.

"Of course, you never seem to forget to mention it." he looks back at me through the rearview mirror.

"You don't know to fight back, Anna. There's tons of people who want to get to Tony. Thankfully, we've been able to keep you off the grid. You driving yourself just make things more difficult." he starts to make his way towards my high school.

"Yeah, if only he'd actually let Natasha, or Clint or ANYBODY, actually teach me to fight or at least let me carry some sort of weapon, then I could drive myself." I cross my arms in irritation, hoping to get to school quicker so this discussion could be over.

"As much as he wants to, you're too young. He`s trying to let you be a kid as much as possible." I laugh at this.

"A kid? When have I ever been a normal kid? Going from you to Pepper, and even Rhodey, I barely had a semblance of a normal teenage life. Can you imagine me getting the talk of female reproduction from Natasha? Or for god sakes even Dad?" I grimace in disgust.

"I undestand he did the best he could do for me, but sometimes I wish I didn't have to do this everyday." I look out the window as Happy glances at me with a pained expression.

I look at him confused before the wheels squeal as he passes out.

"Happy?!" I scream at him. The car starts losing control. I climb over the seats in order to take grab the wheel as we're lifted up into the air.

I scream again, filled with fear and confusion on what to do. I look back at Happy who's completely knocked out.

Looks like I'm gonna die. 


	2. Blacked Out

As I'm trying to figure out how to contact Dad or basically anybody, the momentum of the swinging vehicle sends me flying towards the back of the car.

I reach towards my backpack to grab my phone and hopefully reach ANYONE in time, the call ends up failing.

All of a sudden, I hear the familiar sound of Dad's suit and I sigh in relief.

The sound of gun fire and the vehicle starting to creak puts me on edge; I start to hyperventilate and hang on tight to the headrest.

Finally, I see the familiar suit of Rhodey's as he comes closer to the vehicle.

"Anna!" he yells through his suit, grabbing hold of the car.

"Help Happy! He's knocked out!" I cry, he nods his head and starts to get closer and breaks off the passenger side door out to grab a hold of Happy.

Rhodey reaches for my hand as he carries Happy with the other. As I am about to grab his hand, the car sends us flying down as I hit my head against the top of the car.

I let out a scream as I feel myself growing faint and close my eyes before I pass out.

***

I hear the faint sound of beeping coming from what I assume are machines reading my heartbeat. I start to hear the conversation between Dad and Rhodey.

"How did this happen Rhodey, who could've caused this?" I watch slightly through eyes closed as I see Dad cover his face with his hands. It hurts to see him like this.

"I'm not sure, I have a few friends checking it out right now. All I know is that being with her isn't safe. You have to take her somewhere else." Rhodey was signing some papers.

I take a look at my surroundings and didn't fail to notice the men with guns surrounding my room. Not to mention Dad's suit standing right next to me.

"Dad?" I croaked, I tried sitting myself up but failed miserably.

Both Rhodey and Dad rushed to my side and I could see the relief of seeing me awake in Dad's eyes.

"Anna, are you okay?" Dad grabbed my hand.

"Yeah, I think so."

"Friday, check her vitals." Dad stood up to let the suit pass as Friday took control. The suit scanned my body.

"It seems her vitals are stable, she can be taken home in approximately 45 minutes." I tried sitting up again but pulled back by Dad.

"Rest as much as you can. We're going home soon. I'm gonna go talk to the doctors." He made his way towards a nurse, leaving me and Rhodey by ourselves.

"How's Happy?" I asked.

"He's fine, they just tranquillized him to get to you." Fear surged throughout my body. What did they want with me? I'm sure they didn't want to kill me. They would've dropped the car if that was the case.

"What are we going to do?"

"We're going to relocate you. Somewhere safe and discreet.

Dad walked into my room with a bag of my clothes, "Time to go."

I nodded my head and grabbed the bag he held out for me, staring at them confusedly, they stared right back.

I groaned, "I gotta change, Dad." He quickly nodded and walked out with Rhodey, not before closing the curtains.

"We'll be right outside, sweetheart." I gave him a small smile before quickly getting dressed.

I walked out and followed them to the car. Man, Dad's new car was fucked up. But I knew as quickly as it got messed up, the quicker he'd be able to fix it himself. He wasn't called a genius for nothing.

Both Rhodey and Dad spoke about things I didnt understand, maybe for smart people they probably could've.

I did hear the last bit, Relocation, Queens, New York.

"Why am I going to Queens?" I asked.

Dad looked back through the rearview mirror, "I know a guy to keep you safe, and you'd still be able to go to school." I gave him a confused look before rolling my eyes and slumping back into the chair.

Great. Now I'm going to have another glorified babysitter.


	3. I Seem To Have a Crush on Spider-Man

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you to whoever is reading. Writing this is so fun! I hope you're liking it so far as well.
> 
> Also, I'm not sure how to italicize words on here so, anything with *this* is supposed to be with italics. Sorry! 
> 
> Anyway, enjoy!

 

As the car slowed to a stop, I sighed. I didn't really feel like moving. _Again._

 

 

"So, who's my new babysitter?" I asked, getting out of the car.

 

 

"It can't be an Avenger cause babysitting me is like * _waaayyy*_ below their pay grade." Dad scoffed. He opened the door and let me in first.

 

 

"Hey, you're way * _above*_ the pay grade, honey. We just can't be shadowing you all the time." I nodded in agreement, they had to save the world * _constantly*_.

 

 

Like can't the world protect itself, geez.

 

 

"I have to make some calls, sweetie. I'll have someone get your things ready to pack and some documents written out." He pulled out his cell phone and started talking to whoever was on the phone.

 

 

I sat down on the couch before I was crushed by Natasha by her * _extremely*_ tight hugs, "Please stop, you're crushing my ribs." I groaned for a dramatic effect. It didn't hurt that much.

 

 

"I'm so glad you're okay, Anna. Don't worry, we're all going to try our best to figure out who did this, hon." She rubbed my back as she spoke. Besides Pepper, I was close to her as well and even though they were completely different in personality, they both helped me become a well rounded person.

 

 

"Thanks, Nat. I'm not worried. I'm sure you, Dad, and the rest of the team are going to figure it out and kick their ass." She laughed and turned on the TV.

 

 

The news reporter replayed the video of the familiar car I was in, I groaned when I realized it was me.

 

 

 

 

 

Did people know who I was now? That thought terrified me.

 

 

Nat pulled out a laptop from the desk next to us and quickly got to work doing something. It looked like she was hacking something and before I knew it, the news reporter's screen showing the video turned black as he looked as confused as ever. Which was actually kind of funny. She let out a laugh as she closed the laptop.

 

 

"I'm sure no one is going to have that video now." We changed the channel to another news broadcast but this time it showed a video of Spider-Man, flying past a group of people to save someone from being run over from a criminal who had stolen the car.

 

 

"He seems cool," I said, staring at the screen. I wonder whoever he is if he was an Avenger. I pointed at the screen and glanced at Nat, "Is he with you guys?"

 

 

"He wants to be." Was all she said before standing up, walking towards the elevator to reach her room.

 

 

"I gotta go check some stuff, Anna. I'll see you before you leave." She gave me a small smile before the elevator doors closed.

 

 

I couldn't help but think about who was going to be in charge of me. I had so many questions. I opened the door to my room and threw myself onto my bed.

 

 

Was the person nice? Could they actually protect me? JUST WHO WERE THEY?

 

 

I huffed in frustration before a great idea hit me. It had been a couple hours when Dad had left to go sort things out, I figured whoever was supposed to get me was already here. Maybe Friday knew!

 

 

I mentally high fived myself and spoke out, "Friday, do you know if someone is supposed to arrive soon?" I crossed my fingers, hoping she would be able to tell me who it was before I had to go.

 

 

"I'm sorry, Miss Anna. I'm not at liberty to discuss that information. Please see Mr. Stark for the information you seek." I rolled my eyes, of course she couldn't tell me.

 

 

I stood up from my bed and decided to explore. I already knew where everything was, but I was bound to find something new to mess around with.

 

 

I took the elevator to the floor where Dad would be. I walked towards the lab before I heard him talking to someone. I hid behind the wall as I tried to listen in to the conversation. Sorry, I'm nosy.

 

 

"Thank you so much for calling me down, Mr. Stark! I'm totally ready for whatever you need me for." This person was new, not any voice I recognized.

 

 

"Alright kid, you have to keep this between me and you. I'm relocating my daughter to stay at your place for the time being because no one knows who you are." My eyes widened as they spoke about me. He sounds so young! How is he supposed to take care of me?

 

 

"Whoa! You have a daughter? I didn't know that, Mr. Stark, that's awesome!" He sounded like such a kid. So happy. It was kind of refreshing compared to the stoicism of Steve and Dad.

 

 

"I'm trusting you, Peter. I'm sure she's a lot like you in a lot of ways and I think it would be best for her to be away from me, at least until I know what's going on."

 

 

He voice sounded serious and filled with worry.

 

 

"Anna, I know you're there. Come on out and meet your new roommate." I heard Dad say, the blood draining from my face as I realized I was caught.

 

 

"Fuck." I whispered to myself as I peered through the doorway. "How'd you know I was here? I tried to be as quiet as possible." He sighed.

 

 

"You weren't exactly quiet." he said, crossing his arms.

 

 

"Yeah, it was probably the sound of the elevator too." the boy spoke, giving me a lopsided smile. I gave them a sheepish grin as I walked towards them.

 

 

I took in the boy's appearance and he appeared to be my age. Roughly, 17 to 18 like I was and pretty muscular. He was lean, but you could tell he had a six pack under his shirt, and I'm not talking about alcohol. He was a pretty sight. _Stop it, Anna. IGNORE THE SEXUAL FEELINGS OKAY?_

 

 

I shook my head to get those thoughts out of my little crush.

 

 

"Well... Okay. I'll try better next time." I said, awkwardly.

 

 

"Anna, this is Peter." Dad gestured towards the boy and he gave me a smile in return. "Parker." he said, not bothering to hide his grin. He had such an amazing smile. I just wanted to smush his cheeks. * _Stooooopp it, Anna! He's hardly the first boy you've looked at. Be cool*._

 

 

I extended out my hand to greet him, and smiled as well. "Nice to meet you, Peter Parker." His hand met mine and shook it excitedly. I could see through my peripheral the suspiscious look my Dad gave when we kept staring at each other. "So, I've already contacted your aunt, Peter. To her, she's just another student in the internship program and needs a place to stay." He looked back at me before handing me some paperwork.

 

 

"Anna, I have here some documents, birth certificate, and any transcripts you might need. You're Anna Kent. Natasha and I will be shadowing you guys whenever we can just to make sure you're okay. Also, you'll be joining Pete here at his high school." I stared at him confusedly as I took in all this information.

 

 

"Did you get all that Anna?" I nodded before realizing I would have to meet new people. I quickly groaned.

 

 

"I actually have to meet other teens?" I've seen plenty of those on TV. They were horrible. Like Mean Girls? I don't want that nightmare to happen. Cady didn't deserve that. Hmm, maybe she did.

 

 

"Don't worry about that, Anna, Pete here is gonna make sure things go easy for you." Dad gave me a small smile as he grabbed Peter's shoulder and giving it a tight squeeze. "Isn't that right, Pete?" He gave Peter a death glare, Peter nodded quickly.

 

 

"Of course, sir. You can count on me." Peter looked back at me before continuing.

 

 

"When are we supposed to leave, Mr. Stark?" Peter asked, making his way towards me.

 

 

"Right now." Dad said, hitting a button on his watch before a few things popped out in front of him.

 

 

"You should probably have some money for groceries and stuff like that, how does 10 grand sound?" Dad checked on his computer. I looked at him weirdly, thinking maybe Dad was finally going crazy.

 

 

"You need to relax, Dad. I-"

 

 

"-Oh! You also probably need transportation. Which car do you think is discreet enough to take?" He pondered the himself. I shook my head.

 

 

"None of them, Dad, they're all super expensive. How about an old Toyota or something?" He gave me a surprised look.

 

 

"Alright then, we'll get you packed real quick with the stuff in your room and-" My eyes widened before I interrupted him. "No! I'd rather just take cash and buy simple * _normal*_ clothes that aren't too flashy. Come on, no teen owns * _everything*_ brand named, okay? Please?" I hoped he'd agree.

 

 

He sighed, "Fine." He handed me a backpack. "You have at least 5 grand in here in cash, so that there's no trace." My eyes widened as he let go and the backpack dragged me down with it before a hand quickly reached out to grab it and steadied me. What exactly was in the damn backpack?

 

 

"Sorry, sweetie. I'm used to everyone being able to hold that much weight." I looked back at Peter who now carried the backpack effortlessly and gave me a smile. _Don't smile! Stop being cute!_

 

 

"Alright then, I guess that's it. We'll hit the road." I started to head out before Dad pulled me back into a hug. He hugged me tightly as he looked over to Peter.

 

 

"Take care of her, Pete." He released me from his arms as Peter spoke. "I will, sir, don't worry."

 

 

We walked towards the elevator and watched as the doors closed for the last time I'd see my Dad for a while. At least until it was safe.

 

 

I looked back at Peter, who was standing awkwardly next to me, not knowing what to say.

 

 

"Uhh, what's your school like?" I said, trying to start a conversation.

 

 

"It's okay. Nothing really interesting about it. It's just school." He mumbled. He seemed kinda shy. He spoke so animatedly when he was with Dad, why the sudden change?

 

 

Once the doors open, I'm quickly enveloped in yet another hug. Another person saying their last good bye. I rolled my eyes, it's not like I'm dying.

 

 

"Anything happens you know what to do." Nat gave me a knowing look and I nodded. I only had to do that if it was life or death. Dad would be watching as well anyway.

 

 

"Got it, Nat. Don't worry." she shook her head and let me go. "I'll always worry," she laughed. "I never thought I'd have sentimental feelings towards someone else." I rolled my eyes.

 

 

Lots of people already knew her story, she couldn't have kids and she treated me like her own as well. I had *waaay* too many parents.

 

 

She looked over to Peter and quickly turned serious, "You better keep an eye on her, Pete. Anything you feel you can't handle, you call us." she got closer to him and looked him straight in his eyes in the most intimidating manner. "You got it?"

 

 

He quickly nodded and looked back at me. "You ready to go, Anna?" He gestured towards the entrance.

 

 

"Yeah." I sighed as I gave the place one last look. I wouldn't see it for a long time. He opened the door for me and let me pass first. He slipped on the backpack and followed me out. "I should probably carry this, seeing as you almost faceplanted trying to carry it." He laughed at his own joke as I rolled my eyes.

 

 

"I could've carried it if he had actually told me it was heavy." I wasn't weak, I just don't have super strength okay?

 

 

He smiled knowingly, "Of course, you're super strong." He mocked me. I gave him an irritated look.

 

 

His face quickly turned serious as he realized I didn't like what he said. "Sorry," he muttered, looking down at his shoes.

 

 

I gave him a grin and laughed, "Gotcha." He looked back up at me and laughed along with me.

 

 

Suddenly, he turned serious again. "Alright, I'm pretty sure after we exit, we have to find a taxi to take us to my place. Once we were past the doors, I felt uneasy.

 

 

Unprotected.

 

 

Peter suddenly put his arm around me and led me towards the closest sidewalk. I tried to ignore the closeness but it was pretty hard.

 

 

I realized that I had never actually hung out with a boy before. Like whoa.

 

 

Peter let out a whistle and a taxi halted to a stop. From there, Peter opened the back door for me to climb in. He followed soon after, "Where you wanting to go?" the driver asked, looking at us suspiciously.

 

 

I put my headphones in with music as Peter told the driver where to go. Once we pulled out from the side of the road, we headed towards Peter's home.

 

 

"Where do you live anyway? And with who?" I looked at him as he paid attention to the streets.

 

 

He realized that I spoke and quickly tried to explain, "Oh, a litte apartment in Queens with my Aunt May. She's super nice." He smiled at the thought of his aunt.

 

 

"Wait a minute, how do you know my Dad? Are you an -?" My eyes widened as he covered my mouth with his hand. I gave him a confused look as he gestured over to the driver. Oh, I forgot everything about having to hide. I nodded in understanding and he released me from his grip.

 

 

"Uhh, no. But I'd like to be." He said, looking back at the windows. That's when it hit me.

 

 

"YOU'RE SP-" He quickly covered my mouth again as he widened his eyes in surprise. He shook his head, annoyed wiith my outbursts. I didn't think it would be this hard. Damn. The driver kept giving us confused looks but ignored us. He didn't seem to care about what we were talking about.

 

 

I quickly mumbled a 'sorry' between his fingers as he finally let go again. I just won't speak again, I'll probably let something slip. But whoa, he's Spiderman? I glanced at him as I took notice of his features like before when I had first met him. He surely did have the body for it. He wasn't too muscular or skinny. He just seemed strong.

 

 

He noticed me staring and I felt my cheeks heat up in embarrassment. I gave him a sheepish grin that he returned. I moved my attention towards the windows as I took in the city. It was beautiful at night.

 

 

I felt myself becoming sleepy and let my eyes close as I leaned against the car door. Surprisingly, I'm used to sleeping on doors from being driven everywhere. The last thing I remember was the soft voice of Ed Sheeran's Thinking Out Loud playing on the radio.

 

 

***

 

 

I felt a pair of hands shake me a bit out of my sleep. I looked up at Peter who I realized I was sleeping on his lap. I surely don't remember laying down. Oh my god.

 

 

I bolted upright as I realized how close I was to him, "I'm so sorry." He let out a laugh. "It's fine. It didn't bother me." He gave me a smile. "We're almost there." I looked out the window to see a building with small windows, probably apartments.

 

 

The car came to a stop in front of the entrance. Peter opened the door and stepped out, holding out his hand for me grab it so I could get out as well. "Thanks."

 

 

He pulled out his wallet and gave the taxi driver what was owed. The man nodded his head in thanks and quickly drove off. I gave him a confused look as Peter waved him off.

 

 

"Why didn't you just give him money from the backpack so you didn't have to use yours?" He let out a chuckle, "I don't think he'd like to see a teenager pull out random 100 dollar bills from a backpack."

 

 

"Oh, okay." Was all I managed to say. Well, it's a good thing my Dad wasn't here to see this. I probably would've blown our whole cover if it wasn't for Peter. I sighed, frustrated with myself.

 

 

I followed Peter towards the stairs as we came up to the 5th floor of the building. He took out his keys and unlocked the door. He pushed it open and allowed me to enter first.

 

 

Once we were inside, I was greeted by a young woman. No older that 30. Man, she was young and also beautiful.

 

 

"Oh, you must be Anna! It is so nice to meet you. Mr. Stark told me all about you. We'll take good care of you, sweetie." I shook her hand.

 

 

"Thank you, Miss-" "Oh, please. Call me May." she interrupted and gave me a hug. I smiled.

 

 

"Well, thank you May." She walked over to the kitchen and brought out a bowl, "There's still some leftovers in the fridge, Pete. Do you like mac and cheese, Anna?" she looked over  to me. All I could think of was a memory of Vision attempting to cook 'American Food'. It was pretty funny.

 

 

I realized I left her hanging, not answering her question. "Oh, uhh I'm not actually hungry right now. Thank you. I just think I'd rather turn in for the night."

 

 

She looked at me curiously, "It's only 8, sweetie. Are you sure?" I quickly nodded my head. She gave me a smile and turned to Peter who was coming back from taking out the trash. He seemed waaay too tired from just taking out trash. I looked at him suspiciously. He seemed to notice that I was onto him.

 

 

"Where's the rest of her stuff, Pete? Did you guys leave it in the taxi?" she shook her head in disappointment.

 

 

He looked flustered as he tried to quickly come up with a lie. I beat him to it, "Actually, he picked me up from the airport and they misplaced my luggage. I have to go back tomorrow after school to see if they found it yet." I gave her a sad look, hoping she'd buy it. I'm not the best liar either.

 

 

She frowned,"Aw, that sucks. Alright then, sweetie. Maybe Pete'll let you borrow some of his old clothes that you can sleep in tonight." she smiled, not realizing she left both of us feeling just a little awkward.

 

 

Peter quickly walked towards his room, "Come on, Anna." I followed him to his room and let out a quick 'goodnight' to May as I walked past her.

 

 

Once I entered the room, Peter quietly closed the door. He let out a sigh of relief before he spoke, "She doesn't know about me being Spiderman okay? Please don't blow my cover, Anna." He gave me a puppy eyed look. STOP WITH THOSE BEAUTIFUL BROWN EYES, UGH.

 

 

"I won't." I said, sitting down on his chair as I looked around his room. It looked just like a normal room. A bunch of papers on his desk, his bed not made, and shoes scattered all around the floor. I realized I didn't know where I'd be sleeping.

 

 

"Where am I supposed to sleep?" I questioned, Peter had walked over to his dresser as he pulled out a gray sweater and some shorts. Or was it boxers?? I'm not sure how to tell the difference.

 

 

"Well, in my room. You can choose if you want the top bed or the bottom." I looked over to the bed and thought that he'd usually sleep on the bottom one. Just seemed practical since he slept by himself.

 

 

"The top one is fine, thanks." He handed me the clothes, "Sorry, I didn't really think it through, with you not having clothes, we should've stopped by a store or something." I gave him a smile.

 

 

"It's okay. We'll go find some tomorrow." I tried to comfort him with my words hoping he wouldn't blame himself for something so small.

 

 

"I guess I'll go change in the bathroom then." He nodded his head as I quickly headed towards the bathroom.

 

 

I locked the bathroom and got to work on getting dressed. I also had realized I didn't even take a toothbrush. I brought up my hands to my face in disappointment. I am just not ready to be out in the real world. And how I yearned to get out too. Ugh.

 

 

I looked to see through their things, hoping to find some mouthwash or something. Finally, I found what I was looking for and rinsed out my mouth.

 

 

I quickly took off my shirt, bra and pants and also socks because who in their right mind sleeps with socks on? (Sorry sock lovers) I pulled on his sweater and felt the warm soft fabric surround me. It was pretty big but not baggy. The shorts or boxers whatever they were seemed to fall just a bit and I hoped the sweater would cover anything. It was still long enough that it didn't look bad. It was only for one night anyway.

 

 

I opened the door and walked over to Peter's room as he had finished putting on his own pajamas. He pulled over his shirt and I didn't fail to notice how good he looked without one. I mentally slapped myself. Stop crushing on Spiderman, Anna. He's way out of your league.

 

 

I cleared my throat before I fully walked in. He looked up back at me and took in my appearance. He let out a small smile that I barely noticed. It looked as if he seemed a little attracted to me.

 

 

Personally, I just think maybe to guys, it's cute to see a girl wearing their clothes. I've seen it in the movies all the time.

 

 

"Thanks for letting me borrow something, Pete." I walked over to his bed and set down my clothes near my shoes. He looked at me confused, "It's cool, I don't mind. But why aren't you wearing socks?" He let out a chuckle as he looked at my feet.

 

 

I rolled my eyes, "Socks just bug me when I sleep. That's what the covers are for, so you can cover your feet and keep them warm *without* socks on." He grinned before shaking his head. "I'm a sock kinda guy." I quickly climbed on the ladder and laid on the bed. I sighed in content, feeling tired again. It also seemed to smell like Peter and he smelled nice. His whole room obviously smelled like him. I facepalmed myself. Stop getting feelings for this dude. Honestly. PULL IT TOGETHER, ANNA.

 

 

The silence surrounded us and I felt as if I could hear how quick my heartbeat was going. I was scared to find out if he could too.

 

 

"Good night, Anna." Pete said, turning off the lights and crawled into bed.

 

 

I put my hands over my mouth before I answered, hoping for some reason I didn't sound strange, "Good night, Pete."

 

 

I closed my eyes and tried to stop thinking about my little crush and my growing nervousness for school tomorrow. I just hope things will turn out okay.


	4. First Day of School is Always Supposed to Suck

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry I took so long! I hope you guys enjoy it. I feel like I wrote so much. I spent like 5 hours last night just writing this.

 

I hear some rustling from the ground but ignore it. I was super tired. Being taught privately, I was able to wake up later in the day and still learn. Sometimes I'd wake up earlier just to be able to leave early.

I forgot that actual school forced you to wake up at like at 6, just to be there before 8.

All of a sudden an alarm sounds, effectively waking me up, causing me to bolt upright and smack myself in the head with the ceiling, "Fuck!" I yell, feeling the pounding sensation as I reach my forehead to rub away the oncoming headache.

"Holy shit, Anna. Are you okay?" I see Peter's brown eyes staring at me, no doubt worried that I might have given myself internal bleeding or something, I groan again but give him a thumbs up so he doesn't worry.

"Next time, you can sleep on the bottom. Ned usually sleeps on the bottom because of this. Man, I should've known, I'm so sorry-" I hold up my hand to stop his rambling, "It's fine, Peter! Just give me a second." I silence him. He's not going to keep blaming himself for everything.

As the pounding sensation seems to go away, I make my way down the ladder and start to grab my clothes. I guess rewearing it a second time won't seem so bad. It grossed me out a bit but oh well. Peter reaches it before me and stops me.

"I think you should talk to May. She probably has something you can wear. Maybe?" I look up at him but I listen and walk towards what I believe must be May's room.

I give a quick knock and wait for a response. Out appears May, dressed in a burgundy sun dress and brown sandals, her hair wrapped in a professional bun. Her glasses making her eyes stand out. She looked nice. She's putting on her earrings as she opens the door, "Yes, sweetie?"

"I, uhh, Peter sent me saying that you might have something that I can borrow for today." Her face blanks for second as she looks at me and begins to think. Her eyes widen as she rushes towards her closet. "I have just the thing!"

I follow her to her closet as she tosses me a mustard yellow shirt it seems like. I take a good look at it and realize it's a romper. I try my best to give a face that shows that I like it. "It doesn't fit me anymore and I thought that type of color would flatter your skin beautifully!" She gives me an excited smile as she urges me to try it on.

I start to pull off the shirt till I realize I didn't have a bra on. I stop and look back at her, "I uhh, will be right back." She gives me a confued look as I scurry off to Peter's room. I don't think about knocking and just open the door. I take a glimpse of Peter shirtless again as he jumps in surprise.

"I'm sorry!" I quickly grab my clothes and run back to May's room, slightly embarrased. I should really remember to knock. I snap my bra back on and pull on the romper. I look back at myself in the mirror and see the straps showing. I start to take it off as May walks closer to me, "Can I fix it?" She asks and I nod. She simply slides the straps down inside the dress and you can barely see the difference. The color does seem to suit me and it makes my eyes shine just a bit brighter, but maybe I'm just seeing things. May gives a big grin before letting out a laugh, "It's perfect!"

"Thank you, May." I smile back at her. "No problem, sweetie. Did you want me to do your hair?" She seems excited as she asks me. I ponder the question but quickly nod. I've never had this before. Nat never really helped me with my hair, she just said it was always practical to have it cut short and keep it down. As for Pepper, she just said keeping it down was simple and elegant, that my hair was beautiful without having anything done to it.

She brings out a brush from her bathroom as she gestures me to sit down on her chair facing her mirror. She starts by brushing my hair and I start to feel a little relaxed, slightly remembering those fizzy memories of when my own mom brushed my hair when I was a kid. I didn't know how much I missed it. As much as I loved Nat, Pepper, and even distant Wanda, it wasn't the same as my own mother. I barely remember her but of the few memories I had, she loved playing with my hair.

I don't realize I'm crying until May finishes and she looks back at me through her mirror, "Oh, sweetie. What's wrong?" I quickly wipe the tears away before I answer. "My mom just used to brush my hair, and I forgot what that felt like." I gave her the truth. She gives me a small sad smile and reaches to move a strand of stray hair away from my face.

"I'm sorry. I never really had a chance to have children and it's not like Peter is going to let me braid his hair." She let out a soft chuckle. I smiled back at her, grabbing her hand to show my sincerity. "Thank you." She pulls me into a hug. "Now go on! You and Pete can't be late for your first day!" she says.

I pull on my shoes and decide to put my clothes back in Peter's room. This time though, I don't forget to knock.

Peter opens the door and I see him with a flannel and dark jeans. A simple look that suited him. "Sorry I didn't knock last time. I just came to leave this in your room and also ask if you were ready."

"Yeah, just gotta put shoes on." He says, as he walks over to his closet. I silently laugh at the irony of all the shoes scattered in his room but he reaches for the ones that are in his closet.

I go to reach the backpack I think to take before I pull it and it doesn't budge. What did my Dad put in this backpack? Peter sees my struggle and walks over to me. "We should probably see what's inside." He unzips the backpack and we see multiple, and I mean MULTIPLE stacks of money, all in 100s no doubt and a laptop, a weird box and even a gun. Lots of paperwork and I even see what looks like a passport. This is definitely an emergency backpack. "Whoa." Is all I can say as Peter looks through it.

He grabs the gun and hides it under his clothes in his dresser and puts the weird box with it as well. He places the laptop near his and starts to stash the money in an empty box under his bed. "How much do you think we'll need for later?"

"I guess 500? I don't think I'll buy much." He pulls out one stack of hundreds and hands it to me, "I think one stack will be enough." I count it and realize one stack was 1,000. I roll my eyes and look back to the backpack. There were at least 10 more stacks. My Dad definitely lied when he said it was just 5 grand. I wondered why else the backpack was heavy. Peter hands it to me slowly, with caution just in case it'll still be heavy for me and it is. I look at it in confusion, HOW IS IT STILL HEAVY?

He looks at it as he thinks of what to do and walks over to his own backpack and starts to pull out and shove his books into my backpack. He slips my backpack on and hands me his.

"Mine doesn't seem to have a weird weight to it, so I'll carry this one around for today." I grab his and feel happy to know I can actually carry it. He left like 2 notebooks and some pencils in there. I really should've though to buy school supplies or anything really. Dad would be disappointed to know that I wasn't prepared.

I follow Peter out of his room and head to the kitchen where May is drinking coffee and reading a newspaper. "You kids hungry?" I look back at Peter as he answers her, "No, it's okay. I think it's best if we go a little early so I can show Anna around. We'll buy some sandwiches from Mr. Delmar before we reach school."

She sighs, "Alright then, have a good day!" she walks over to Peter and gives him a kiss on the forehead. She walks over to me and gives me a hug.

I follow Peter out the door and turn back to give May a quick wave. We make our way down the stairs, and out the apartment complex quickly. I can barely keep up with Peter. He suddenly realizes he's walking so fast and slows down. "Sorry, Anna. I just feel like the faster we get to school, the safer you are."

"It's okay, Pete. How about-" I pause to think before I say it, "-we skip school today and actually do something about my appearance?" I look at him expecting a response of no. He thinks for a moment before giving me an answer, "That's actually a great idea." He looks at his watch and back at me. "But I don't think we can skip all day. We at least have until 4th period. I can't leave Ned in PE all by himself." He says, and I can see the worried look on his face as he says this. I nod my head and pull out my phone. I search for the closest stores near us. I stop and delete the search instead for the nearest salon. My hair is definitely an identifier.

"There's actually a salon open right now, and we could do something about changing my hair color." I say as I hand him my phone. He looks at it for directions and quickly whistles for a taxi.

A taxi stops for us and we climb in, Peter giving the directions to the driver. I feel Peter edge closer to me. He seems really tense. I place my hand on his thigh and give him a concerned look, "You can't be thinking everyone is out to get me. You just need to relax." He lets out a long sigh as I see him visibly relax from his tense position. I move my hand away and he smiles at me.

We reach our stop as Peter pulls out his wallet. I try to stop him from paying the driver but to no avail. I glare at him as we climb out of the car. Once the taxi leaves, I pull at my backpack's zipper and Peter stops me. I give him yet another glare as I can't open it because he's way stronger than me. I huff in frustration, "Fine! But just know I'm keeping tabs. I'll pay you later." He lets out a chuckle as he releases my backpack and opens the door for me. We walk into the salon and see a bunch of women sitting down, talking. It seems they had just opened.

I look back at Peter behind me as he stands there awkwardly, not knowing what to say. The women finally take notice of us and one lady walks over to us. "How can I help you?" she eyes us suspiciously as she waits for my answer. "I have an emergency, I need my hair done for school. It's a new school and I just really feel like at a new school, you gotta change your WHOLE appearance and I gotta show them I'm not anyone to mess with and-" I start rambling to show how freaked out I am, hoping to make a believable story of how or why I need my hair color changed, "-you know how these girls are in New York, they can be so prissy and I'm just not ready for that-" The woman stops me and widens her eyes.

"Sweetie, you just had to say so. Let's make you breathtaking, not that you aren't already." She ushers me over to her chair and sits me down. Peter watches us warily, not knowing how to stand close enough without making it weird. The woman takes notice and points at the chair next to me. "Hey sugar, sit here next to your girlfriend. You seem like you can't be two feet away from her." I ignore her comment and try my best to hide the sudden burning on my cheeks. I could never be his girlfriend. He probably already has one.

Peter sits in the chair, as the lady starts to undo the braid May had done for me. I start to feel bad that May had taken the time to do that and now it was gone. The lady eyes my hair, debating on what to do with it. "What're looking to get done, honey? You want a MAJOR change or just looking for something to lighten up?" I look at my dark almost black hair and nod, "Major change." She nods and gets to work. She calls over some of her coworkers and ask for several numbers of hair color that I don't know and she starts at applying things to pieces of my hair.

I glance over at Peter through the mirror as he starts doing his homework while he waits. He catches my stare and smiles back at me. I quickly look away to stop from blushing or feeling like I'm gonna throw up.

The process doesn't take as long as I thought it would and the women take me to their sinks to rinse my hair out, they apply a bunch of strong smelling liquids and say that it's to give the hair the specific color they want. They quickly walk over to Peter and ask him to just turn around so that he can only see the final look until it's finished. He sends me a worried glance and I nod, hoping to tell him it's fine. He turns around halfway, wanting to keep me in his sight but looks down so he can't see the top of my head.

The women face me away from the mirror so that I can't see it myself."Your hair is so thick and beautiful, sweetie. It's like it's never been touched by nothing but angels. There was literally no split ends, it's remarkable." The woman whose name is Sally, starts to blowdry my hair as another walks over to me with what appears to look like a straightener. I've never had to use those things.

Once they're finished, I hear the shutter of a camera and Sally squeals with excitement. "We're done, sweets. We used top of the line products to make sure we don't ruin a slight string of hair." She tussles my hair and turns the chair around to face the mirror.

I look back at my reflection and it's like I don't recognize myself. Out is the dark mess that was my hair and in its place flows a mixture of honey blonde mixed with a copper on top of my head, and mixed with dark haired undertones. It definitely was a MAJOR change. It all blends beautifully. I can't believe it's me staring back.

"Alright baby, you can look at your girl now!" Sally yells out to Peter who doesn't take a second to finally look at me. I can see his expression change from worry to awe as he just sits there, staring at me. I feel awkward and anxious under his gaze.

"Doesn't she just look drop dead gorgeous? God, I'm good." Sally praises herself as she slips off the sheet covering me. I stand up and look at myself again. I still couldn't believe that was me.

"Now sweetie, that'll be 500." Sally says, as she walks over to the counter. I can see Peter's eyes widen as he hears the price. I shrug my shoulders and take out the stack of bills from my backpack. I hand Sally 600 and her eyes widen in surprise, not expecting me to carry a huge amount of cash on me. She eyes me suspiciously as she grabs the money from me. "Sorry, Daddy always has me carry at least a grand on me. For emergencies." I try to sound as girlish and obnoxious as possible.

She starts to hand me the change before I stop her, "It's fine, it's your tip. Thanks, doll." I say before walking over to Peter. She widens her eyes but keeps the money. "Wow, thanks." She says.

Peter grabs his things and follows me out. I feel Peter's unmoving gaze as we walk away from the salon. I check my phone for a store that might sell colored contact lenses that I can put on.

"We gotta go to this store for what I'm looking for," I say, handing him the phone. He nods his head and waves out for another taxi. We climb in and Peter tells him the address.

We reach our destination in a couple minutes and Peter quickly pays the driver. I mentally tally up another time Peter has paid the taxi and remind myself to pay him later. We walk towards the store and see a well dressed woman behind the counter. We're in a lens store and realize the woman is the ophthalmologist. "Anything specific you're looking for?" she asks, walking around the counter to greet us.

"I'm just looking for colored contact lenses. Something different but not too drastic." She nods her head, and looks at my eyes thinking of what color to give me. "Did you need them with prescription? Because that needs a few days to be prepared." I shake my head no and she nods and walks over to a counter by itself. She pulls out a box and hands it to me.

"So, the color is a hazel mixed with some green. Not too drastic, and it will mix with the flecks of yellow in your brown eyes." I nod my head, "Alright, I'll get them."

She brings them over to the cash register and scans the box. She also adds contact solution and a container to hold the contacts. "It'll be 147.90." I quickly give her 200 and she hands me the change. "Thank you." I say and grab the bag. "Do you have a bathroom?" I say and she nods, pointing to the door in the back of the room.

I make my way to it as I look back at Peter and motion for him to wait. I close the door and quickly put on the contacts and see the difference. It mixes well with my eyes to look as realistic as possible.

I walk back out and thank her as we leave. I finally look to meet Peter's starstruck expression. "We can head to school now."

"Y-yeah, okay." He quickly says, as he shakes his head to get rid of his distraction. "We can actually make it if we walk there." I follow Peter a couple blocks until we only see a huge building. This school was huge. We walk past the gates as I follow Peter to the office.

The lady behind the counter gives Peter a look of annoyance, "Again, Peter?" Peter looks slightly embarrased as he signs his name on a sheet listed as Late Arrival. "And now you've corrupted another." She looks back at me and then stops for second, "Actually I'm new." I say.

"Name?" she asks and I pull out my ID. I had forgotten what my Dad had told me what my name was. Something I should've looked at before so I didn't look suspiscious.

"Alright, Annalise Kent." she hands me some paperwork. "This is your class schedule, and also some welcome packets. I hope being with Mr. Parker won't affect your attendance as well." she says, looking back at Peter, irritation clear in her voice.

We soon leave the office and I follow Peter, "Can I see the classes you have?" I nod, and hand him the paper. He looks over the classes and smiles. "It seems Mr. Stark gave you my class schedule. So it looks like we're both headed to PE." he hands it back to me as we walk towards the gymnasium.

He leads me towards the girl's locker room, "I'll see you later." He says, walking to the opposite door as the bell rings and a rush of students appear, all speeding off to their next class. I stand there confused and terrified. You can do this, Anna. Just breathe. Get through the day.

I walk towards one of the female coaches in the locker room, "Umm, where are you supposed to get a uniform?" I ask, slightly nervous. She looks at me and walks back to her office. She comes back with a folded blue shirt and some black shorts.

I mumble a quick thanks and head towards the lockers. The other girls start to change but all glance at me curiously while I change. I hate being a new kid.

I look back at them and make eye contact with a tall girl. She gives me a slight smile and walks over. "You must be the new girl, my name is Liz." I pull over my shirt and look back at her, "My name is Anna. Anna St-" I stop myself, "-Kent." I give her a smile.

"Awesome. It's nice to meet you." we head towards the entrance of the gym. I look over to the bleachers and see all the boys already sitting. I try to find Peter amongst them and finally find him. He doesn't notice me as he speaks to a boy next to him excitedly. I think that must be his friend, Ned. I glance at him quickly and it hurts to see him so excited. With me, he seems so tense and quiet. With his friend, he seems so happy and carefree.

Before I start to climb the bleachers to find a seat, a clipboard gets in the way and I find myself stopped by the teacher. "Name?" he asks, recognizing an unfamiliar face. "Annalise Kent, sir." I say. He looks at his clipboard and nods his head.

"Alright guys, it looks like we have a new student today." he starts, and I can feel more than a dozen pair of eyes stare at me. I feel myself getting sick to my stomach with all the attention on me. I'm not used to it. I feel like throwing up.

Everyone stops talking and continues to stare at me. I look up at Peter and he gives me a small smile. "Her name is Annalise, and if she's up for it, she can say something interesting about herself." I can feel my breathing get heavy as I realize this is the kind of nightmare fueled shit I see in movies.

I feel like I can barely speak or utter a sentence as I think quickly of something. "I, umm, I guess like dogs."  I literally want the whole world to swallow me whole. WHAT KIND OF INTRODUCTION IS THAT?

I ignore everyone's confused glances as I sit down. This was a horrible idea. Why would my Dad even want me to be in high school. I have to remember to put hair removal cream in his shampoo bottle next time I see him, no one is gonna want a bald Iron Man.

"Alright, Anna. That's cool. Dogs are cool. Anyway, for today we're gonna play dodgeball." Almost all the boys cheer as some girls groan. "I know, but it'll be fun." He pulls out his clipboard again and names off two people. "Mr. Parker and Mr. Thompson, you pick your teams." I see Peter tense up as he's called. I can see his irritated expression as another boy goes down as well.

This boy has a huge smirk on his face and pats Peter on the shoulder. "Penis Parker, I CANNOT wait to kick your ass." I sit there, irritated at the boy who calls Peter that way and Peter allows it. "Penis Parker can pick first," the boy laughs. Peter glances at me and then at who I assume is Ned. "Ned." He says, his friend walks down to stand next to him. This goes on for multiple people until only a few of us are left.

I haven't failed to notice the people that Peter chose didn't seem to want to join him and a lot of people had snickered when the guy had said mean things to Peter.  The guy makes eye contact with me and I do my best to give him the most intimidating glare I can, hoping he won't choose me. He gives me a surprised look and eyes someone else.

"Liz." he says, and the girl I had met in the locker room walks over to join him.

"Anna." Peter says, and I walk over to him and join the rest of our team. The coach had already left the balls on the floor so we could start.

Peter stands in the middle of the court as the guy does the same, "You're goin' down, Penis." the guy says again. My own irritation getting the better of me, I don't think before speaking. "Oh, would you shut the hell up? What are you, five?" I say, and the guy glances at me in confusion at my hostility. He leaves Peter alone as the coach walks up to us.

"You guys already know the rules, whoever gets hit has to stand on the wall till the game is over." Still feeling irritated at the guy, I vow to make sure he gets out first.

Everyone ready's themselves as the coach blows the whistle.

All of a sudden, balls are flying at everyone and it's hard to not get hit. With my adrenaline rush already surging because of my anxiety of my embarrassing introduction, I'm able to dodge all the balls thrown at me. I notice most of them are from girls of the opposite team who seem to like the guy I gave attitude. I got a few unsuspecting people out who must've thought I wasn't a competitive person. But trust me when I say this, I am.

I can see Peter dodging all the balls thrown at him with ease, but I can tell he's trying to slow himself down so he can blend with the other kids. Sadly, Flash who I had heard his name screamed throughout the court as part of his team cheered for him, had gotten Peter's friend out and had knocked the wind out of him, throwing the ball pretty hard.

I can see Peter getting irritated and I realize Peter and I are the only ones left on our team. As for Flash, he and a girl stand together. They seem to know each other. The girl glances at me and gives me a glare, she attempts to throw a ball at me and I jump away at the last second.

"Looks like it's me and you, Pete. And you're get your ass handed to you." Flash says. Seeing Peter in action as Spider-Man made me wonder of how much self-control he had to make sure he didn't injure his classmates. As much as Flash deserved it, I know Peter was holding back. It would've been easy to hit Flash with a ball, and knowing how strong Peter was, he could easily throw it hard enough to break Flash's ribs. Which honestly didn't sound that bad cause this kid is an ass.

I glance back at the girl, and I can feel her getting irritated that she hasn't gotten me yet. "Come on, Sheila, get her out." Flash says, not taking his eyes off Peter. She glares at me again, "Well, the bitch won't stop moving." I glare right back as she throws it fast and hard; she must be a softball player. With my anger fueled energy, I surprisingly catch and throw it as hard as I can right back. She didn't expect me to catch it and I'm able to throw it hard enough, she falls to the ground.

The rest of the students all gasp, and I realize this isn't going so well. I probably shouldn't make enemies on the first day. Good job, Anna. This is why your Dad makes you stay home.

She gets up, her eyes filled with hatred and anger and stalks off to get in line with the rest of their team. I mentally high five myself even though I shouldn't have done that.

I look over to see Peter and Flash still going at it. Flash then looks at me and back at Peter and unexpectedly launches a ball at me. I try to prepare myself for the impact as I wasn't expecting it but feel nothing.

I hear a drop before I open my eyes and see Peter on the floor, groaning in pain. He takes the hit for me and I look back at the coach with a bewildered expression. He doesn't really seem to care, almost falling asleep.

I crouch down to check on Peter, "Shit, Peter. Are you okay?" I place a hand on his shoulder and he looks up at me, and I hear the chuckle of Flash. He himself wasn't much to look at, but he surprisingly was strong.

My hands ball up into fists as I move to stand up and confront the son of a bitch. I feel Peter pull me back down and keep me near him. "It's not worth it, Anna." he shakes his head as he slowly gets up. He places his hand on his stomach and groans again.

Finally, I help him stand up and allow him to put an arm around me for support. He took the hit that was meant for me and he didn't have to. I see Flash walk among his friends as they give him high fives for hurting Peter. It took all my self-control to not walk over there and punch him in the nose and hopefully break it beyond repair. That, and Peter needed me.

I take him over to Ned who has a worried expression, "Dude, are you okay?" Peter quickly nods. "Just need time to rest for a second." Ned takes over for me and they both walk off to the locker room. Peter looks back in my direction before heading in, I give him a smile to try and comfort him.

I make my way towards my locker and find it to be empty. I notice snickering coming from the lockers across from me and look over to see Sheila smirk at me. She is so childish.

I slam my locker shut with such a force, it scares a few girls next to me and causing the room to become silent. I glare at Sheila and walk over to her, my glare unwavering. I see Sheila slightly back towards the lockers and places a few friends in front of her. I smirk as I stand in front of her and my expression changes to an angry one, "Where are my clothes, Sheila." I say, hoping my voice sounds as intimidating as I look.

As much as my Dad didn't let anyone teach me to fight, I was still able to watch them practice and I was pretty good at learning that way.

She smirks and points over to the bathroom and I roll my eyes. I head over to the toilets and see the romper inside of it, along with my cell phone. I'm sure my dad isn't going to want me causing fights. Karma is a bitch, Anna and she'll get hers. Karma better get her ass fast, or I'll get her first.

Liz walks over to me with a look filled with pity, "I'm sorry, Anna. If you want, you can borrow some clothes of mine." I nod, "Thanks, Liz." I say, we walk over to her locker and she hands me a crop top and high rise shorts. I give her a confused look, wondering why she'd have two outfits in her locker and she answers my question, "I always like being prepared. You never know when you need an extra pair of clothes," she smiles at me. I pull it over me and see it fits a little snug but is slightly longer because Liz is taller than me. I walk over to my own locker and stuff my dead phone and the romper in a bag.

The bell rings releasing us to lunch. All the girls head out and I make my way to the boys' locker room to try and meet with Peter. I finally notice Peter standing around with Ned, looking around frantically that I believe he's looking for me.

From far away, he looks slightly better from before and even has a grin as he speaks to Ned. I wonder how badly I'm already starting to affect his life just as I've affected my dad's. A burden to them both.

I reach Peter, and he sighs in relief but then gives me a confused look as he takes in my appearance. "Weren't you wearing something else?" He asks, concern etched all over his face.

"Yeah, I don't feel like talking about it." I say, in mild irritation. We head towards the cafeteria and wait in line to get some food. We hear a commotion coming in from the entrance and we all turn to look at Flash who has a big smile on his face; something I'd like to permanently remove.

"What the hell is that kid's problem with you, Peter?" I ask him, annoyed again as I'm reminded how badly Flash treats him. I wonder how long it's been going on.

"He just doesn't like Peter cause he's super smarter than him, and usually beats him out of almost every competition. Peter doesn't even try to. It just happens. So Flash always wants to beat Peter in something." Ned answers for Peter, as Peter stays silent and looks the other way.

I sigh in frustration but don't say anything else. We finish grabbing our food and walk over to a table to sit down. I notice another girl, her face hidden behind a book. "Hey, MJ." Ned says, giving the girl a smile. The girl sets down the book and gives him a nod as hello. She glances at Peter, "So, I heard you got pummeled by Flash in PE." She says, her tone serious and cold.

I look over to Peter as he answers, "Yeah." I slam my fork down on the table, causing both Ned and Peter to jump. "You wanna know why?" I say to MJ, and she looks over to me, intrigued by my outburst.

"Because, the ball was aimed for me and I didn't notice. It was meant for me. He didn't lose to Flash because he sucks. He lost because that stupid kid knew Peter would try to help me instead of himself." I say, exasperatedly.

I look back at Peter, "You didn't have to do that, Peter. I could've just taken one for the team and you could-" he stops me, "So, I'd just let you take a hit? If it kinda hurt me, can you imagine how bad it would've hurt you?" he says, in a sorrowful tone.

I huff in frustation and mumble, "I could've taken it." He ignores my comment because he's the only one who would be able to hear me. We eat our food in silence, and MJ returns to reading her book.

We only enjoy a couple of minutes of silence before I hear the footsteps of someone walking past us, and I feel liquid trickle down my back and notice my shirt is soaked in milk. I look at both Peter and Ned and see their shocked expressions as they watch the person behind me gasp in fake concern. "Oh my god! I'm so sorry! I didn't notice you. It's like you were invisible." I turn to face Sheila. She smirks as her friends laugh along with her. She starts to walk off and I move my hand to reach for her neck before Peter stops me.

I look back at him, my expression filled with anger, and I feel somewhat betrayed that he had stopped me from completely changing her life. I would never allow someone to keep humiliating me. I yank my hand away from his grasp and angrily walk away before I say things I'll regret.

I half expect him to follow me, and it hurts to realize he doesn't.

***

Throughout our classes, I haven't spoken to Peter. I've had to introduce myself in the rest of my classes, but this time I don't allow myself to get anxious. I am a badass woman.

Peter attempts to talk to me but I slip on my headphones as the bell rings to signal the end of the day. I walk off to exit the building and I see Sheila and her friends laughing at me; no doubt laughing at the stains they caused on my shirt and tossing my clothes in the toilet.

At this moment, I'm currently listening to Bitch Better Have My Money by Rihanna and that is definitely hyping me up to punch her teeth out but, I decide against it. She is beneath me.

I realize I actually have to speak to Peter so that we can decide on where to go to buy things I need. I turn around and just see Ned. I was pretty sure he'd be behind me. "Where is Peter?" I ask, pulling out headphones and storing them in the backpack.

"He usually heads out to his internship with Mr. Stark after school." he says, seemingly trying to cover for Peter in case someone is listening to our conversation.

I guess through my own stubborness, I'm left on my own having to figure out how to get home. As I'm about to say goodbye to Ned, he interrupts, "Peter asked me to go with you so I can take you home and get the things you needed." He hands me this strange little robotic spider and I almost throw it out of my hands. Spiders actually freak me out. I take a better look at as its abdomen blinks. A tracker.

I nod my head and Ned starts walking towards the way Peter had taken me through this morning.

"So, where do you wanna start?" He asks, looking back at me.

"I don't have much to spend, so just necessities." I say, once I do Ned's eyes widen in realization and proceeds to pull off his backpack. "I totally forgot, Peter actually took more of the money you had. He gave it to me during lab so I could carry it in case you needed more." he slowly unzips his backpack to reveal two more banded hundred dollar bills.

I sigh in defeat, feeling guilty about ignoring Peter. He was a really sweet person and it frustrated me that people treated him this way. Even when he's probably stopped most of those kids from dying.

I shrug off my guilty conscience and focus on the task at hand. I needed loads of things; clothes, shoes, a toothbrush, hair products, feminine products, the list could continue.

"We should probably head to at least a mall, and a grocery store." I said, hoping to find all the things I needed.

He nods and calls over a taxi. Once we're inside, Ned asks how much it would be to rent him out for the rest of the night. The driver agrees to the pay and we head to the mall.

***

Several hours later, we stuff all the things in the car, having to also place things in the passenger seat AND with us in the backseat. I managed to find everything I needed and enough to pay the driver what I owed him. I had also thought to buy a big enough amount of groceries so that I could at least to not let down May after ruining her clothes. I had even bought laundry deterrgent.

I had gotten to know Ned better and understood why he was Peter's best friend. He spoke fondly of Peter, talking about him excitedly. He had told me about how awesome he had felt when he found out about Peter's 'internship', he kept referring his super hero persona that so no one could figure it out.

He had told me plently of things about Peter, the death of his parents, of his uncle, and even how he had gotten bit by the spider. "You shouldn't give Peter a hard time about the stuff at school." Ned says. I look at him, waiting for him to explain. "People always do that to us, but we've gotten over it. It's not that it doesn't hurt but it's just easier not to give them the satisfaction of getting under your skin." I nod my head in understanding and completely agree. Even something I should work on as well. My anger can get the upperhand and I could do things that I'd regret.

The car reaches to a stop in front of Peter's apartment building. I hand the driver what I owe him and he counts it. He gives us a wave as we start to try and carry everything up the seven floors, I see Ned give a look of pure horror as he glances at all our things.

All of a sudden, out appears Peter from the side of the building, carrying his backpack. He gives Ned a smile and turns to me and his expression quickly changes to a somber one. I don't say anything as he walks closer.

"Hey, Pete." Ned greets him and they do a handshake thing. "We gotta get all these things up to your place." He says.

"What did you guys buy? Geez." Peter says, as he looks at the multiple bags surrounding us. "Anna got a bunch of things for her, some stuff for you, and groceries." Ned says, and I start to feel myself blush.

Peter looks at me as Ned says that, "What did you get me?" I don't speak and Ned responds for me, "She got you a new cell phone dude AND she also got us a new lego project to build." Ned's voice is filled with excitement as he says this.

Peter quickly grabs at least 5 bags on each hand as both Ned and I struggled to carry 3. Ned and I are both left watching Peter in awe as he makes his way up the stairs. We grab the remaining bags and follow him up.

Peter unlocks the door and pokes his head inside, "Good, May isn't home yet. We can unpack everything quickly." We set the things down and I try to remember which bags are the ones with my clothes and supplies. More than half are those and I start to pull them into Peter's room as I can't actually carry them. Peter looks back at me and quickly takes them from my hands.

I give him a smile of gratitude as he walks off to speak to Ned in the living room and also unpack all the groceries we had bought. I suddenly notice the change in Peter's room as some of his clothes are shoved under his bed and there's slight open drawers from his dressers that are empty. Some of his closet is empty as well; all that's left are some hangers.

My heart pounds in my chest as I realize he had done this when he had gotten home to make room for my things. I glance over to his bathroom that most likely had it cleared out for me as well. I was almost in the verge of tears from how guilty I felt for being mean to him. Even though it wasn't much I did, I still felt bad. I felt ungrateful and like a brat. He knew that taking me in was a big deal to my dad and not once looks like he regrets taking the job..

I start to get to work and in about half an hour, have everything organized and hung accordingly. I finally notice the silence outside and realize that the door must be pretty noise resistant. The walls as well because I couldn't hear Peter or Ned.

I try to open the door as slowly and inconspicuously as possible. I smile at the thought of when Peter had said the elevator doors opening had blown my cover. I then hear their voices and try to pay attention to what they're saying.

"Peter, you should've seen how guilty she looked after you left." I hear the clicking sounds of what I assume are them building the lego thing. It had something to do with Star Wars. "I just thought I should give her some space." I hear Pete's voice say.

"I can't believe Mr. Stark is her dad! That is so awesome dude." Ned says.

I get up from the floor and start to change into my pajamas. I look up to the top bunk and see Peter's sweater and shorts folded neatly. I grimace as I realize that I don't really have a reason to wear it anymore. I accept the fact that I might have a small crush on Peter. I should probably embrace it. It won't change anything because we have to stay friends for the sake of not getting to attached. I know I would if I was actually dating him.

Throughout the whole time with Ned, I spent half of it overthinking about what could possibly happen to Peter. Someone could kill him or hurt him in some way. I noticed some cuts on his forehead that I hadn't seen this morning. He was so sweet and loyal to those around him. Even though I had only met him yesterday,  I could sense that about him. He was sincere and dedicated to his loved ones.

I sigh as I look at myself in the mirror. I should probably apologize once Peter and I are alone. I open the door and look out to see the two boys finishing the model. They both look up at me and I smile at them.

"You guys finished that thing super fast.." I say, sitting next to them on the couch. "Yeah, I just had to open it. Once we finished unpacking, we got started. It's awesome." Ned says, inspecting the model.

Ned suddenly stands up and grabs the model, "Alright, I should probably head home." He reaches for his backpack as Peter speaks, "I though you were going to sl-" Ned coughs loudly and clears his throat to stop Peter from finishing his sentence. "My mom REALLY needs me home to finish watching Game of Thrones." He says and heads towards the door. "It was nice to officially meet you, Anna. I'll see you guys tomorrow. Good night!" the door slams and the room stays quiet.

I start to speak at the same time Peter does so, "I'm sorry." I say, at the same time he does. We both crack a smile. I speak first, "I'm sorry I stormed off after lunch. I just hated having to see people treating you that way. I was angry that you allowed them to, even though you probably save their lives all the time. I was angry that you had to get hurt because of me and angry because you stopped me from literally almost tearing Sheila apart." He laughs but his expression turns serious again. "I can't expect them to know what I do for them. I have to just take it. I can't slam Flash against the lockers or throw him across the room because what good would that do for me?"

He edges closely to me as he continues talking, "The hit didn't actually hurt that bad. I just can't act like it didn't hurt at all." He smiles up at me.

"And also, I only stopped you from hitting Sheila, not to protect her but stop you from doing something you'd regret." I nod in understanding.

"Thanks." I say and let out a laugh.  "It's a good thing you did because I really wanted to punch her teeth out."

We head over to his room for the rest of the night, waiting for May to come home.

 


	5. Trouble Always Seems to Find Me

It's been a week at this school and since the first day, no one has bothered me. Which is pretty good cause I hate drama.

 

I'm used to Peter disappearing now, Ned walks me home and I keep the little robotic spider in my pocket. If anything were to happen, Peter tells me to just destroy the bug, and he'll come but he'll stay as close as he can.

 

In a way, I'm glad he's not too pushy on staying close all the time. I'd like to think I'm safe with my different hair color and eyes.

 

As we're on our way home, my stomach begins to rumble in hunger. I'm thinking of anything that would be good to eat at home but come up empty. Nothing sounds good. I think it would be okay if we went out to eat. I turn my head in Ned's direction, "Hey Ned, are you hungry? Cause I really wanna eat out. It's my treat. what do you say?" I ask, pulling out some money from my pocket to count. I have enough.

 

"Yeah, I could go for some food. But what about Peter? Should we tell him that we're gonna go buy something to eat?" He asks, his eyes filled with worry.

 

I shake my head, "Nah, he's probably busy. We have the spider thing anyway." I say. He nods his head and pulls out his phone, "What're you hungry for?"

 

I think about it for a second before I answer, "An enchilada sounds reaaallyy good." My mouth waters at the thought of something so delicious. He smiles and agrees, "Hell yeah, that does sound good." He types into his phone, "There's a mexican restaurant about five minutes from here, walking distance." I follow him as we make our way to the restaurant.

 

It's not long till we reach the entrance. We walk inside and make our way to order, a cheery cashier greets us, "Hi! Is this for here or to go?" She asks, pulling out a tray with a number on it. "For here." I say and smile. She nods and looks at us expectantly.

 

Ned orders first, "I'll get the number one with no sour cream please, or lettuce. And a sprite." She quickly writes it down and looks up at me. "I'll have the number sixteen with no sour cream and no lettuce as well. And also a orange soda too. Thanks." She gets us our drinks and I give her the money.

 

We sit down somewhere in the middle of the restaurant to wait for our food. I can't help but think about Peter, hoping he's okay.

 

(Peter's POV)

 

"You're supposed to be stuck to her side like glue Peter! I didn't expect you to keep doing this." Mr. Stark yells at me through the robot. I'm sitting on top of a building as Mr. Stark scolds me.

 

"I know sir, but I have everything under control. Anna and my friend Ned walk home everyday through the same route, I have a tracker on them as well. I've prepped Ned for any emergency too. I'm trying hard to keep her safe and watch out for any potential people trying to get her." I say, rolling my eyes. I have everything under control. I'd like to think I've matured since my fight with Mr. Allen.

 

"Stick to her like glue, Peter. I'm trusting that she'll be in safe hands with you." I can hear the fear in Mr. Starks voice. "I won't let you down, sir." The robot flies off and I sit there; about to continue my route around town. "Hey Karen, have Ned and Anna made it home yet?" I ask, flying across another building.

 

"I'm afraid not, Peter. It seems they're off course." she says and my heart plummets. "What?!" I yell, I almost run into a building from fear and worry. "Where are they?" I ask.

 

"It seems they're at a restaurant from what I can hear, would you like to listen?" She asks. "Yes."

 

I can hear Anna laughing at something Ned says and hear someone's heels as they walk closer to the mic. I feel a little irritated at how irresponsible they are for going anywhere but home and also not telling me about it. "Take me there, Karen." I say and make my way to where they must be.

 

(Anna's POV)

 

The kind waitress brings us our meals and we happily dig in. I had been starving.

 

"Do you know why Liz had to move?" I ask Ned, taking a bite of my food. She only said good bye to her friends, and I was able to see her off carrying a box with her mom.

 

"I'm pretty sure it has something to do with Pete. Her dad's like a criminal or something." He says nonchalantly. My eyes widen at the news.

 

"Whoa, are you serious?" I ask.

 

"Yeah, I think Pete was the one who put him in jail. They arrested him a while back but she had just found out." I felt really bad for Liz. It must be horrible to find out that way.

 

"Oh." Is all I say, frowning. We continue to eat our food until we hear a gunshot. We jump from the sudden sound and duck under the table. I hear sudden screams and there is commotion everywhere. I look up from the table to see a man holding a gun in the face of the cashier that had helped us. You can see the fearful look on her face.

 

I reach towards my pocket to destroy the tracker, hoping Peter reaches us in time. The cashier hands him whatever money she has in the register but it seems it isn't enough.

 

"Where the fuck is the rest! You better not be lying to me bitch! I'll put a bullet through your damn head." He screams as she begins to cry. I move to stand up, to do something and Ned pulls me back, "NO, Anna. We have to stay here or run. Don't do anything stupid." He says, sternly. I sigh, agitated and terrified as I see the scene unravel in front of me.

 

The man then walks towards everyone, some people only hid under the tables afraid to move past the man waving the gun around. There was only one exit, besides one in the kitchen but no one dared move past the man to make it. We were trapped. He starts to scream at a couple, a few feet away from me and Ned. "GIVE ME YOUR FUCKING MONEY." The woman starts to cry as the man throws him the wallet. Another gunshot rings out, the man points it at the ceilling.

 

"EVERYONE GIVE ME THEIR FUCKING MONEY, OR YOU'LL FUCKING DIE." He walks around from table to table, rushing everyone to hurry up.

 

I silently pray Peter will make it in time, cause I have at least a grand on me and we can't afford to lose that. The man finally makes it to both Ned and I and has a crazed look in his eyes. I can see tears forming in Ned's eyes and my throat hurts from my attempt to stop myself from crying. He holds the gun on my head and I hand him my backpack. "BITCH, THERE'S NOTHING HERE. STOP WASTING MY DAMN TIME." I can hear the gun click as he's about to kill me.

 

Suddenly, we hear a loud bang and glass is thrown everywhere. I only see a flash of red and blue as the man is thrown across the room. I'm choking back tears as I see Peter tying the man down with his webbing. "Looks like you won't be robbing anyone else anytime soon." I can hear Peter say, through his suit. "Is everyone okay?" He asks the group and some people are crying tears of joy as they realize the terror is over. He reaches for my backpack and hands it to me, "You should ALL be going home." I can hear the anger in his voice. Ned and I look at each other and decide to run the hell outta there. I see Peter through the windows as he stays behind to help the other people. He is pissed. Shit.

 

***

Ned and I reach the door of Pete's apartment, it's only nine at night. I unlock the door and turn around to say something to Ned, but he's already walking towards the stairs. "Where are you going?" I ask him.

 

He raises his hands up in surrender, "I'd rather not be here when Peter comes back. He's gonna be super mad." I give him a serious look, but he's rushing down the stairs. "Come back! I'm not about to get yelled at by myself!" Shit.

 

I open the door to see May in the kitchen, making herself something to eat. "Where have you kids been?! I've been calling Peter and nothing!" She says, worriedly.

 

"We went to get something eat and hang out with a couple of friends May. I'm sorry." I put my head down in shame. I'm gonna get yelled at twice by May and Peter. Ugh.

 

"It's fine to hang out with friends Anna, but you have to let me know. I've been hearing so many sirens these past few hours that got me so worried!" She says, her hands on her hips. She walks into the kitchen to grab something.

 

I nod my head, "We'll let you know next time May, I'm sorry." Suddenly, I feel a presence behind me and I can feel my stomach drop from fear. Peter's gonna chew me out too. I turn around to see an angry looking Peter. His expression changes when May comes into view.

 

"Both of you head to bed. Next time let me know. Please." I nod and quickly make my way toward's Peter's room. I can hear Peter close the door once we make it in, I'm afraid to turn around and see his angry face.

 

"Anna, what the hell were you and Ned thinking?!" He whisper/yells. "And face me." He says, anger and impatience clear in his voice. I slowly turn around to look at him in the eyes. They're dark and filled with fury. "We just wanted to eat something, we didn't think to let you know cause we thought you were going to be busy..." I say, stopping myself from continuing as he gets angrier when I say this. "You're SUPPOSED to let me know, Anna. Your dad is wanting me to keep you safe. How am I supposed to tell him what happened?" He says, exasperatedly.

 

"I guess just don't tell him?" I say, and let out a dry laugh. Hoping he would find it humorous, he doesn't. He lets out a sigh filled with irritation. He covers his face with his hands, "What if I hadn't made it in time, Anna? I almost didn't. You could've just died. I was so stupid!" I start to feel like shit as he blames himself. I walk over to him and put my hands on his shoulders.

 

"I'm really sorry, Peter. I wasn't thinking." I say, my voice filled with regret and guilt. "I feel really bad." I sit next to him, his hands still over his face.

 

"Mr. Stark asked me to keep you safe, that's what I'm trying to do. But you're not helping." He stands up before I'm able to touch him again. Before I say anything, he beats me to it. "Just go to sleep, Anna. Let me cool off." He walks off towards the bathroom, and I'm left in silence.

 

I really fucked up.

 

I walk over to his dresser and grab my pajamas. I slip off my clothes and quickly change. I could hear the shower running so I wasn't worried about Peter walking in. I feel so bad. I guess it would be best to give him some space as he cools off.

 

I realize I have to go brush my teeth but stop once I remember he's still in there showering. Seeing Peter that angry had scared me. My dad was never that angry with me even when I would do stupid shit like mess with a bunch of stuff I didn't understand. I felt really bad.

 

I wasn't sure how to make him less angry and I know I couldn't throw money at the problem like my dad. I guess I just couldn't get into any more trouble, even at school. I sit down at his desk and look at his work, his scribbly handwriting is all over the page. I wish I could understand this stuff, even with a genius teaching me, I still could barely understand. Sometimes it sucked when you realized you'd never be as smart as they are. Even Peter is like a genius.

 

I hear the bathroom door open and out appears Peter, his hair damp and messy from the shower. He was already dressed for bed. I want to say something to him but can't, I'm at loss for words. I quietly walk past him and head to the bathroom to brush my teeth and wash my face.

 

Once I'm done, I head up to my bed. It's eerily silent and I feel awkward not speaking. "Good night, Pete." I say, hoping he would actually say good night. I'd feell even worse if he didn't.

 

"Good night, Anna." he says, his voice low. He was still mad. Ugh.

 

***

Once the alarm rings, we rush into our routine of getting dressed and leaving for school. This time it feels different because we hardly speak to each other as we get ready.

 

I feel like today is a bummy day and I dress in some joggers and a loose t shirt with my vans and a burgundy beanie over my head. I glance over to Peter who wears dark jeans, a flannel and sweater, from what I've noticed is his signature look. He heads towards the door and we come face to face with May who has prepared us something to eat that smelled really good. I've been buying some groceries the past week even though May insisted I didn't have to. I'd just shrug and smile.

 

"You guys better eat up. I've made your favorite, Pete. Wheat cakes!" She hands him a plate of strange looking pancakes and a bright smile appears on his face. I grimace at the strange food, not wanting to try it. May looks at me, "Did you want some, honey?" She asks, taking out a plate. "I'm okay, May. I think I'll have some cereal if that's okay." I say, taking out a bowl from the cabinet. She nods, "It's fine, sweetie." She lets out a laugh. "Not everyone likes what Peter does."

 

We sit in silence as we finish our breakfast. May is reading a newspaper and I can see the front page showing a picture of the restaurant I was in last night. My eyes widen and I continue to stare, trying to read what it's saying. I'm so focused that I don't hear May ask me a question, Peter nudges me and I break out of my trance, "I'm sorry, what?" I look up at her.

 

"How's school been? It's been like about a week. Any kids giving you trouble?" She asks, staring at both Peter and I.

 

"It's been good. No trouble so far." I say, rolling around my cereal in the milk I haven't finished. The cereal's begun to get soggy and I hate when it does that. I'm just not hungry today.

 

"Peter? Are you gonna tell me the truth?" She says, I almost choke on my cereal. I didn't lie. Just omitted the first day. Sheila hasn't given me trouble but I had a feeling she was cooking something up because of what I had done to her the other day.

 

We were in our science class and messing around with some chemicals, Ned and Peter were lab partners so I was left with Sheila since Liz had left. Which was the most horrendous thing to happen. I'm not great at following directions, so I had poured too much of something and made some type of reaction that had managed to catch on fire and torch a piece of her blonde hair. She screamed in fear and fury as she was rushed to the sink to make sure she wouldn't burn anymore. I have to sit next to the teacher now since everyone seems to believe I had done it on purpose.

 

So, in short, she's out for my head as she has to wear extensions until the hair grows back. She hates me even more now and I didn't even have to try.

 

"School's fine, May." he says, giving her a smile. She narrows her eyes but says nothing else. Peter looks at his watch and proceeds to get up and to place his plate in the sink. "We should get going, Anna." he says. I nod my head and drop off my own plate in the sink as well. We say our goodbyes to May and head towards school. Usually, Ned is already outside but he's nowhere to be found. He must be terrified right now of Peter. I wonder if they've ever been mad at each other before.

 

I sense that Peter will still be giving me the silent treatment so I put in my headphones to listen to music. Through the corner of my eye, I see Peter glance at me a couple times but doesn't say anything to get my attention.

 

We finally reach school and see Ned with an uneasy expression. I glare at him for a second, a little irritated that he left me alone. He gives me a smile but turns serious once he looks at Peter.

 

"Hey, Pete. Sorry I couldn't make it yester-" Peter stops him, "Save it, Ned." He walks off and leaves us alone. I glare at Ned again, "He was super pissed yesterday, so thanks for leaving me hung out to dry." I say, bitterly.

 

"I'm sorry! We've never fought before. I couldn't handle it." he says, following me to my locker. "Well, you're for sure fighting now." I say, grabbing my books for the next class. Ned doesn't have this class with me and Pete so he heads off to his own. Usually, I sit next to Peter but I decided against it.

 

I walk into the classroom and glance at Peter with his face buried into his book, trying his hardest to ignore me. Great. I sit in the seat next to the door as Sheila walks in with her friends. She glances at both Peter and I and she begins to laugh. "Aw, are the two lovebirds fighting?" she says, laughing along with her friends. Even though burning her hair was an accident, I'm glad I did, no regrets. I simply ignore her comment and pull out my book from my backpack.

 

She slams her hands on my desk, meeting my gaze. Everyone stares at us, including Peter. She expected me to be scared and I was actually trying not to laugh. "Cat got your tongue, bitch?" she says, her friends standing behind her. The teacher was nowhere to be found, like always. I keep her gaze and stand up myself. "No, but fuck with me again, and we'll see what happens." I can see her hesitate after my threat. She lifts her hands and scoffs, "We'll just see." she grins with a knowing smile. I had a bad feeling.

 

Finally, the teacher rushes in as Sheila walks to her seat. Of course, he's oblivious to what happened. No one ever seems to see what she does, which is really fucking frustrating. I can only hope that when I actually decide to do something to her, no one sees me either. She seems like an easy fight. She seemed too happy for my liking. She'd usually spend her time glaring at me. Something was definitely wrong. We'll see.

 

***

 

In our third period, I get this uneasy feeling. Usually any time Sheila walks past us she always mutters something under her breath which makes me roll my eyes. It's like clockwork. I'm getting my books out for my next class and I'm about to say something to Peter about my suspicions but he's already making his way to the classroom. Shit, I forgot. He's pissed at me.

 

I slam my locker shut before I make my way to class. All of a sudden, the fire alarm goes off. Everyone rushes to their classrooms and I see Peter glance back at me, his eyes filled with worry. He seemed very tense. No doubt thinking the same thing that I was. Something was up. At least even though he's furious with me, he still actually wants to protect me.

 

I rush to his side as the teacher has us line up together and we all exit to the quad. "If anything weird happens, we're both going to run in the opposite direction." he whispers to me. "I can't help anyone without my suit, which I have in my backpack. I already texted Ned. Anything happens Anna, you run directly outside and wait for Ned. He's doing the same thing. You don't look back. You got it?" He says, his tone serious. I nod my head.

 

He stays pretty close to me as we make our way to the quad. Why in the hell would we line up for a fire alarm? What if it's fake and they just want all of us in one place so they can shoot at us?

 

My heart is hammering in my chest, I can feel my adrenaline rushing as I await any dangerous thing we might face. Have they already found me?

 

Once we're at the quad, all the teachers start taking attendance to ensure that all the students are present. I look over to Peter who looks like he's ready to kick some ass. I've only seen him as Spider-Man like twice and I've never actually seen him in fighting mode. I glance towards the dark side of the school that never seems to have any light. The lights are always going out for some reason over there.

 

I see Ned getting dragged by two guys, his arm tied behind his back. No one seems to notice him. My eyes widen in realization and without thinking I quickly walk towards Ned. I pull on Peter's arm, who was too busy focusing on everything else to not see Ned getting dragged to the bathroom. "Someone took Ned in there!" I say, and Peter bolts into action. Some students look at us but since we're going to the bathroom I guess no one seems suspicious.

 

Peter hides behind the wall so no one can see him. He looks around for cameras but they all seem to be covered with tape. Someone beat us to it. He pulls off his shirt and pants and takes out his suit. It's pretty distracting to watch him undress himself and I admit it's hard to look away. GET IT TOGETHER, ANNA. NED IS GOING TO DIE. I think for a second and look to see that there's a window above the bathroom, so we can listen in before we actually run in.

 

"Peter, I think we should check to see who's inside." I point at the window and he nods. He quickly climbs up to see what's going on. I feel super frustrated that I can't just climb up walls and listen in too.

 

He jumps back down and pulls off his mask. I look over the wall to see students returning back to the classrooms. It must have been a false alarm. "There's like four guys and a girl. Ned seems to be fine but they're waiting for something. Should I stay like this or take it off?" He asks.

 

If it were something super dangerous, they would've killed Ned by now. "Take it off. I don't think these people are trying to kill me." But, they want my attention. I knew it was for me. I was the only one who was able to see Ned get taken. I put my hair up in a pony tail and start to walk towards the door. Peter stops me, "I'm getting him on my own, stay back." He sets his backpack next to mine as he's already taken off the suit. I shake my head in disagreement, "No, you're gonna kick whoever's ass is behind this door while I get Ned." I say, he groans in irritation but nods.

 

We both stand in front of the door and look around to make sure no one can see us. We look at each other and nod. "Ready."

 

He pushes the door open and shit quickly hits the fan. Peter is slammed against the wall by one of the guys while the others make their way to him. I rush towards Ned before I'm tackled by someone. I push this person off me as I come face to face to a girl. She has this crazy look in her eyes as she swings at me. She lands her punch on my face. I'm dropped again, the throbbing pain the only thing I'm able to focus on. Damn, this hurts! She proceeds to kick me in the stomach while I'm down but I don't give her the satisfaction of hearing me scream out in pain. "You fucked with the wrong girl, bitch." She says, and suddenly everything clicks. Sheila.

 

Anger fills my veins as I realize Sheila had planned this. That's why she was so cheery. Before the girl is about to kick me again, I kick at her foot to knock her down. She falls to the floor, not expecting me to fight back.

 

I wipe the blood coming from my mouth as I get on top of her, punching the side of her face. She throws me off and we both get up. We bring our hands up to block and face each other.

 

She swings first and I'm able to block it, seeing an opening, I punch her stomach and kick at her knee. She groans in pain and falls to the floor. I'm about to go for more before I'm thrown against the wall by one of the guys. Ned has to just watch, a horrified look on his face. I look at Peter who's currently beating the shit out of two guys as one lays on the floor knocked out. The guy who threw me then focuses on Peter, who's bleeding from his nose. I get up to face the girl again, but this time I'm not going to hold back. I slam her against the wall, making sure she hits her head against it. I bring my knee up as I push her head down and hit her.

 

She collapses to the floor, her face bloodied. I kick at her stomach, her legs, the rage consuming me. I'm going to kill Sheila. I drown out her screams before I'm pulled back and I swing at whoever grabbed me. Peter catches my fist before it makes contact with his face. "It's over, Anna. Stop." He says, a worried look on his face. I can see the dry blood around his nose, but besides that it seems that nothing has affected him.

 

I walk over to Ned as I hear the groans of the group, the girl crying to herself. I rip off the tape from his mouth and untie the rope. "Oh my god, you guys!" He says, I drag him out of the bathroom as he stares at our work in shock. Peter follows us both and grabs our backpacks as we leave through the back entrance.

 

"Holy sHIT you GUYs!" Ned yells again as we're making our way home. No doubt the school will call May, to tell us we're not in our last classes. I debate whether to turn back and wait for Sheila to get out of school so I can kick her ass too. But, I decide against it. She'll know what's coming for her tomorrow. I'll give her a day to let the fear settle in her bones.

 

"YOU GUYS AREN'T LISTENING, YOU KICKED ASS!!" Ned yells, trying to get our attention. "Peter you were like-" Ned attempts to copy Peter, "-and ANNA you were like KILLLING her dude!" We sit down at a bench in the park, trying to rest from what had just went down. Peter seemed fine but I was definitely beat.

 

"How did they grab you Ned?" I asked, finally addressing him. "I was walking out of the bathroom in the hallway and about to go to class cause I was a little late and then these two guys shove me against the lockers and tape my mouth closed and then carry me to the bathroom we were in, we pass the fire alarm and one of them pulls it. Then, I see all the kids making lines and I see you with Peter." he says, rubbing his arm as he remembers what happened, "They pushed me pretty hard."

 

"It has to be Sheila's doing. She seemed like she was up to something." I say, my voice filled with anger.

 

"At least, it's over." Peter says, sighing. "I'm sorry, Peter." I say, suddenly feeling bad for getting them into this mess. "I didn't expect Sheila to go batshit crazy, it was an accident when I had burned her. I swear." He looks up at me, his anger gone from his face. "I know, Anna. But, we just can't keep causing probems at school, we have other things to worry about." he puts a hand over his hair, frustrated.

 

"I'll just keep to myself okay?" I say, hoping he'll believe me. "Okay."

 

We all sit in silence.

 

I'm silently hoping that nothing else is coming our way.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> First time writing a fight scene! It's pretty fucking hard tbh but hopefully you guys haven't lost interest! Thanks for reading!


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